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 With
Great Commission Passion
By: Fred Hewett
Executive Director/Treasurer—Montana Southern Baptist Convention
Everywhere I travel in our state I have shared my absolute commitment to
the local church and have promised that our MTSBC strategy, budget,
priorities and efforts will be centered on the local church. By way of
this article I would like to share five personally held convictions
regarding the local church.
1.
The church is the most powerful force on the planet. All power is given
to Christ and in that power He created and commissioned the church to
fulfill its mission. Nothing is greater than the power of God. Nothing
can stop the church, when the church is doing what God created it to do.
This means that God’s eternal purpose for His church in Montana cannot
be stopped.
2.
The church is the only hope for the world. We are to take the redeeming
message of Christ to every person in every place in Montana and the
world. The church is charged with the task of being stewards of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our purpose was made clear by Christ in Acts 1:8
and other Great Commission references. There are many good activities
that we can be involved in, but none more important than taking the
Gospel to people. This is our primary and ultimate task.
3.
The church is unique. Nothing else can take the place of the church. No
other entity has been given the responsibility of the Gospel and no
other entity can do what the church can do. We are the bride of Christ.
We are the presence of God on planet Earth. Therefore, the church must
be intentional and even aggressive in fulfilling its mission. Eternal
souls hang in the balance.
4.
The church that is not fulfilling its God-given mission grieves God’s
heart. Revelation 3:15-16 is clear that spiritual status quo displeases
God. Christ shared many examples of His displeasure with a religious
system that prevents the spiritually needy from finding God, a form of
religion instead of a deep abiding relationship, spiritual pride instead
of broken humility and lukewarm over a passionate hot zeal. The
plateaued and dying church typifies these in North America today and it
grieves God’s heart.
5.
The church must always be outward in its focus. Too many evangelical
churches have turned inward in their effort to survive. In doing so they
have determined their fate and have become sealed off from the very
folks they are commissioned to reach. The key to turning around a dying
or declining church is to reconnect with the unchurched community around
it, begin loving people as Christ loved them, welcoming them into the
church. Better yet, take the church to them. |
